Synopsis

What if the painful story of a North Korean defector were made into an animated film? Furthermore, what if it was a claymation film? A Purpleman is your answer to these questions. The theme of defecting from North Korea becomes not a re-enactment but an expression which highlights an absurd reality. The North Korea presented in this film is dismal beyond words. A boy who ventured out to China in search of food is arrested by the authorities and imprisoned in a hellhole where space and food are luxuries while terrible torture is a daily routine. Yet this film transforms such adversities into a caricaturized reality where there are at least bugs to eat, while others outside the prisons walls are starving, and torture seems to look like child’s play. The same goes for life in South Korea. To North Korean defectors, South Korea at first seems to overflow with food but eventually it reveals a reality where hardship exists, as the film cleverly and succinctly expresses through an egg at a buffet restaurant: people are no longer allowed to have more than one egg due to an economic crisis! The light, whimsical way that anti-U.S. and anti-communist education in North and South Korea are compared also gives an amusing touch to this film as it introduces the inefficiencies and problems of both countries’ ideological education systems. Despite the comic-like presentation of such heavy themes, just like its hero who is neither red or blue but a mixture of both, A Purpleman brings your attention to this subtle cacophony with humor. (KANG Sung-ryool)

Director

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  KIM Tak-hoon
  

  Born in Seoul, 1972. After graduating from Kyung-il University, he won a MFA degree in Animation Filmmaking and Computer Art at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Currently, he is an associate professor at Chung-Ang University and a director at Tak Toon Enterprise Inc.
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  YOO Jing-young
  

  Born in 1977. After graduating from Kyonggi University, she majored in Animation at the Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Chung-Ang University. Currently, she is a director at Tak Toon Enterprise Inc.
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  RYU Jin-ho
  

  Born in 1978. After graduating from Hoseo University, he majored in Animation at the Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Chung-Ang University. Currently, he is a director at Tak Toon Enterprise Inc.
• 

  PARK Sung-ho
  

  Born in 1980. After graduating from Hoseo University, he majored in Animation at the Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Chung-Ang University. Currently, he is a director at Tak Toon Enterprise Inc.

Credits

• Directors  KIM Tak-hoon, YOO Jing-young, RYU Jin-ho, PARK Sung-ho
• Writer  LEE Hyungkee
• Cinematographer  KIM Kiman
• Editors  HAN Tae-sik, CHO Jun-ho
• Music  KIM Tekn
• Sound  LEE Joo-suk

Distribution / World Sales

• Distribution / World Sales  Amuse Films
• Address  5F, Pyung-kwang Blgd., 19-19 Chungmuro 5-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul 100-015, South Korea
• Tel  82 2 747 9128
• E-mail  amusefilm@gmail.com